


Perseverance

by ClaireKat



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Gen, One Shot, Prompt Fill, ofc because when do i write something that isn't angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2016-01-22
Packaged: 2018-05-15 10:17:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5782315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaireKat/pseuds/ClaireKat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It had been five years since Summer disappeared, ten since Raven, and the pain had yet to lessen for Taiyang."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Perseverance

**Author's Note:**

> This is another prompt fill from my writing blog! I like the relationship between Qrow and Taiyang and the idea that Qrow really was like a rock for Taiyang to lean upon after all of the loss that he had to deal with. But Qrow lost a sister and a (possible) love interest too, so...these two guys are just full of suffering. I hope you enjoy!

            Despite all his efforts to avoid anything that might trigger a flood of unpleasant memories, a deluge of painful reminders that would drown him in all that he had lost, fate stood stubbornly in Taiyang’s Xiao Long’s way. Passing a lone rosebud swaying in loneliness upon the side of the road or hearing the chilling call of a raven soaring above him would startle Taiyang, captivate him, bore sharply into his core. He wished with all his heart that he could find some way, _any way,_ to nurse the gaping wound that had shredded his heart, leaving the vulnerable ribbons aching with reverberating tendrils of recollection. It seemed that the world wasn’t interested in cooperating with him, in helping him locate an antidote, an inkling of anything he could cling to for a simple, temporary reprieve. Taiyang was grief stricken, he was at a loss, caught in a vortex of his own self-pity and solitude. So far, even his daughters’ presence wasn’t sufficient in fighting off the madness that clawed at his psyche.

            “Hey, Taiyang, what are you doing out here?” a gruff voice inquired, but Taiyang didn’t bother turning to meet its approach. “Damn dude, you look pretty out of it again. Do you need to lie down?”

            The voice rattled around in his ears, probing his brain and pulling out of his somber cloud of rumination.  Resigning himself to getting this exchange over with he looked over his shoulder, his eyes shielded from the blinding sun as he was shrouded in the shadow of the unkempt figure that stood before him. This man bore an unsettling resemblance to Taiyang’s first love, the mother of his first child, yet somehow he was one of the only remaining people that could bring any sense of peace or temporary happiness to his life. Taiyang sighed emptily in response to the man’s interrogations, scratching the back of his head before mussing up the remainder of his smooth honey locks.

            “Tai, c’mon.” the man, more properly known as Qrow, encouraged his mourning friend. He stepped forward and gave the blonde’s shoulder a soft pat before taking a seat beside him. “What are you sitting out here for? And all alone. You know it’s not good for you to sit here and mope, especially when you go off on your own and dwell on it. That’s probably one of the _worst_ things that you can do for yourself.”

            “I just see them,” Taiyang responded blankly. “I see reminders of them, everywhere, every day…”

            Qrow sighed, leaning on his arms to gaze up into the azure sky. “I’m sorry, Tai. I really am. I _know_ how hard it is, and I know that the girls can only make it more difficult. Ruby and Yang look so much like their mothers; sometimes Yang’s resemblance to Raven kind of catches _me_ off guard. Seems like they’ve even begun to show aspects of their personalities, eh?”

            “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” Taiyang murmured into his palms. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel, what I’m supposed to think. They’re my _children_ Qrow, my darling daughters, the treasures of my life…how am I supposed to interact with them when each of their smiles is a dagger through my heart?”

            Qrow made a dismissing noise, shoving Taiyang’s shoulder before pulling the man into a one armed embrace. “Listen, Tai, I know that it’s hard. And it’s only going to get harder as they grow up, as you begin to see more and more of their mothers in them. But hey, maybe over time, you’ll finally start to see them as _themselves_. I’m sure that eventually you won’t even be able to notice the pieces of their mothers lurking beneath the surface. I think that, given time, we’ll both be able to see them as the unique, bright, beautiful girls that they are, all on their own. I know you’re strong enough, Tai, and I’m here whenever you need me. I’m a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen and all that sugary supportive crap.”

            “But it’s just as hard on you, Qrow. And I know it,” Taiyang countered, shifting to look his friend in the eye. “I’m not blind to how you’ve been affected, I know you’ve taken to drinking more heavily, you go on risker missions, and you’re gone for longer periods of time–”

            “Yeah, well none of that stuff has to do with you, or them, Tai—”

            “Don’t you lie to me!”

            A silence pervaded the atmosphere between them, and Qrow shoved himself to his feet, sliding his hands in his pockets. He glanced down at his friend with a surly gaze. “I’m not lying, and you _know_ it. I have my own collection of dusty, decaying skeletons I keep locked away, soldered even, in a closet that I’ve been drowning in drink. Don’t take anymore burden on yourself by assuming that any of my problems have anything to do with _you_.”

            Taiyang clenched his fists, opening his mouth to protest and barely catching the words before they escaped as a small ball of sunshine and her timid sister came rushing out of the house. The exuberant tikes ran at Taiyang and Qrow, the dark haired one grabbing onto her father’s shoulders as the blonde playfully batted at Qrow’s hips. The dark haired man gave the girl a sarcastic, mildly sadistic smirk.

            “Hey, just what do you think you’re doing, Firecracker?”

            The air soon filled with the trills of childish laughter and carefully crafted facades of happiness and normalcy. Qrow and Taiyang were both lost, broken, confused men, entangled in a million different threads of fate; a majority of them were still unnoticed, but their effects were potent nonetheless. Neither of them knew exactly how to cope with the weight that threatened to crush them, yet both of them knew that they couldn’t afford to shatter their current lives in favor of their own self-preservation. Of the threads that they _were_ aware of, the Huntsmen knew that they couldn’t bear to let these threads be cut, couldn’t risk the fallout affecting those that were also unaware of how much turmoil they were at the center of. For these girls, for their future and the fragile future of so many others, Taiyang and Qrow had pledged to uphold their perseverance and strength; both to each other, and to the wisps of women that had left prominent scars on their hearts long ago.


End file.
